GONE ARE THE DAYS

    It was not long ago when I used to sit in the balcony with the evening cup of tea in my hand and watch children play in the ground adjacent to my house. It was so good to feel the evening’s cool air blended with the noise of children playing in the ground. It drew me nostalgic to my childhood when I was addicted to evening games. The whole day I used to wait for evening when I could meet my friends, play with them, run all along the streets, sweat out and come home as exhausted as a farmer after a day’s work. After the evening shower, my body rejuvenates and feels as fresh as a dawn flower. It gives me enough energy to concentrate on my studies till late nights. Today when I am watching the children playing from my balcony, I can feel the vibes of their energy and sometimes I get so engulfed in the game that I almost spill my coffee out of excitement. I laugh, I smirk and I giggle as per the up comings in the game. In short the evening tea and the hullabaloo ambiance makes it a perfect evening for me.

     But as stated by God, the maker of the Universe, "nothing is permanent in this world". To upkeep the truth in the statement, I too lost my beautiful evenings. With the world commercializing all around, the demography of the area also changed. The small playground which once witnessed high energy levels of children now withstands a high rise building. The aroma of playing children is now replaced with noises of running machines and earthmovers. The builder made his profit bulldozing the liberty of the children. Not moved by the developments around, the children tried to play in the street. The worse was to happen when they broke the mirror of a car and they were chased by the owner to an extent that they were never seen again.

      Now with a cup of tea in my hand, I watch the ongoing developments in the high rise building and also in our society. Our children are deprived from their basic right i.e, playing. Today finding a space to play is like finding paradise on earth. People have to walk or drive a distance to fetch their children a playground, that too on a membership basis. Those places are so overcrowded that one can hardly enjoy once game, and if you are not patient enough to drive your child all that far, your child has to confine himself to video games or internet. The marks in the score card are increasing but the graph of social adaptness is decreasing. Schools introduce all sort games in their campuses only for better competition with fellow schools and publicity but the fun element of street games is a miss. Today small children interact with neighboring children in such a formal way that it gives me goosebumps. Children should first taste freedom and liberty, then only they can fit in the shoes of a social person. If they are deprived of that right in their childhood, I am afraid that their shoulders will not be strong enough to sustain the responsibilities, failures and shortcomings in their lives. A pot is shaped only when it is in clay form and once it is misshaped, it always remains a misfit in the lot. With all these thoughts popping up in my mind, I finish my evening cup of tea and make my way inside the house with a feeling never to come again in the balcony.

 

     

Reviews

[Dom Gunn]

My feeling from this is somebody in my own age group longing for the freedom they once had for the children. Sadly its all gone, freedom has been replaced by police eager to prosecute. Once it was a clip around the ear when you stepped out of line, now its fines or a criminal record.

The real world has gone from ordinary folks. Arun's story reflects that loss

[Arun]

thanks Gunn for understanding the soul of my story...it really feels good

[Arielle Ann]

hello there, I read this and the concept was indeed nice, but critically saying, I did find a few grammatical errors; once you misplaced tea with coffee. Just check the typos.
However coming back to the essence of the write, a strong idea which has the scope of being explored much in detail :)

[Arun]

thank You Ann for your nice comments,,,regarding tea/coffee, it was intentional as we don't have tea everyday. So to make it look more related, I used coffee at one place. And I will look into my grammar more seriously this time..thank you once again

[Arielle Ann]

ohk...I thought it was a typo...writing evolves with more practice...that's all :)

[poetdoug]

I loved your concept of the Evening Tea. It sets the stage to sit and chat with your readers---which you did so well. We all feel like we got to sit down with you and enjoy 'tea and sympathy' together.
Keep it up my friend!

[Arun]

you are always welcome for tea my friend...a real tea this time

[poetdoug]

Hey, thanks, I think I"ll hold you to this kind offer my friend!lol

[CreamLatte]

I wouldn't mind seeing more of this. I like your style, I think it's fascinating and you write very well. The only criticism i have is when you are talking about modern day society like, "Schools introduce all sort games in their campuses only for better competition with fellow schools and publicity but the fun element of street games is a miss." I feel like you are losing some of the atmosphere you created in the beginning because you spell it out for your readers.

Maybe, "Schools introduce games from competition alone - the impulsive nature of those who played street games is drowned in this need for publicity". So just rephrase a few sentences to keep up your atmosphere.

But all in all, very good!

[Arun]

that was very nice gesture of you to rephrase few lines..i appreciate your criticism,thank you

[Dom Gunn]

Schools introduce the concept of winners and losers, the fun is removed, 1 winners 29 losers

[Bhavya Kaushik]

This was beautifully written! Liked the pathos in it a lot :)
Nice job. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to read more of you :)